Author Topic: Received a Davis Wireless 6152 VP2 as a gift from my wife. Now what?  (Read 3766 times)

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Offline .

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« Last Edit: May 25, 2009, 04:18:06 AM by brucifer »

Offline tinplate

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Re: Received a Davis Wireless 6152 VP2 as a gift from my wife. Now what?
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2009, 07:11:44 AM »
First thing you should do is thank your wife  :grin:

Q1: I have my console sitting about 4 inches from my wireless router. I have not seen any interference problems.
Q2: It is so much a matter of personal taste that you really should try them all. WeatherLink is enough for many people. A lot of people want more than that, and VirtualWeatherStation and WeatherDisplay are the two big alternatives. I also like PC-WeatherStation from Germany (there is an English version). These are all Windows programs. If you are a Linux guy, then look at the open source wview. All the programs have their pros and cons. For those who don't want to pick just one program, and   who want to use the best features of each, VirtualVP lets you connect more than one program to the console. As far as I remember, all the programs have trial versions that let you try them before you buy them.
Q3: I would recommend the Serial over the USB. A percentage of folks (they say it's 5%, but I think it's a bit higher than that) experience connection drops with the USB. I am one of them. VirtualVP has code that reset the driver when this happens, and gets things running again automatically, and that has solved the problem for some people having the USB problem. Even with that solution available, I would still recommend just going with the serial data logger. Why take the chance if you don't need to?

Offline George Richardson

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Re: Received a Davis Wireless 6152 VP2 as a gift from my wife. Now what?
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2009, 08:49:04 AM »
Hey Bruce,

Well usually when the ladies present us with item such as you received, they expect something in return. You know, something that sparkles, has wheels, or both. Good luck evening the score.

You should get the CWOP siting recommendations and follow as closely as is reasonable. You will need to order the serial Datalogger which will include the WeatherLink software. I would recommend the XP box. You will probably want to run your weather computer 24/7. I feel that Steve's (tinplate, Softwx) suite is a must have (StartWatch, VirtualVP, and VPLive). I do not own WD but it is the only product I don't own that I would recommend. Bryan's support is nothing short of fantastic. (Remember, you must get WD and WDLive [or something like that] to publish to the web.) Therefore, both WD and VWS are similar cost.

Have FUN!

FWIW

George

Offline d_l

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Re: Received a Davis Wireless 6152 VP2 as a gift from my wife. Now what?
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2009, 09:12:39 AM »
Q2.  With the purchase of the datalogger whether it is the serial, USB, or IP version, you will get the Davis Weatherlink software which is sufficient by itself to log and analyze all your weather data and also upload it to a website. Some people decide that this included "free" software is too basic and choose to use more elaborate third-party software instead of Weatherlink.
--Dave--

Wireless VP2 w/ solar, 24hr FARS, Heater, (Envoy-WLIP)*3-Meteohub, plus custom VP2 @ 26', WL 6.0.4, WU & W4U=KNVRENO37 NetcamXL

People always talk about the weather, but they never do anything about it.  Not me.  I'm gonna measure it.  https://www.tceweather.com

Online Garth Bock

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Re: Received a Davis Wireless 6152 VP2 as a gift from my wife. Now what?
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2009, 01:16:53 PM »
Hey Bruce,

Well usually when the ladies present us with item such as you received, they expect something in return. You know, something that sparkles, has wheels, or both. Good luck evening the score.



Be careful what you choose....my girlfriend said get something shiny, take me someplace expensive, and get me something that goes from zero to 200 in nothing flat..........so I bought her a toaster, drove her to the City Gas company, and I got her a bathroom scale...........I should make a full recovery.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2009, 10:24:27 AM by garthbock »

Online Garth Bock

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Re: Received a Davis Wireless 6152 VP2 as a gift from my wife. Now what?
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2009, 01:31:11 PM »
As to Q1.........I have an Envoy (receiver that has no LCD display like a console) in the same room as my N router and wireless printer.......no problem at all. Also I am surrounded by 3 neighbors' networks...no data drops from the ISS in a year.

As to Q2............You can download and try each one free for about a month. If time is a problem well you will find everyone here has their favorite. I like VWS for being a blank slate when it comes to the local console. Drag and drop to build it. I like WD for its WeatherLive and MesoMap Live. Awesome. I have Virtual VPro so I can run both of them at the same time. I have Weather Link because it has the maintenance side for the Envoy and while the display is plain...less is more and it is cool.

As to Q3......Some will say either works but I have seen the trend to the serial. I bought serial after our university station's USB refused to work after an upgrade of Weatherview32. Switched it to serial and went to VWS and the station is rock solid. As for your computer....you can add a PCI serial port card to it if you have an open slot. However, unless you are using it for weather\personal\other things...it is over powered. I am running on a Dell GX620 desktop that I got off of eBay for $150. Single core 3.2ghz...2 gig memory running VVPro\Weatherlink\VWS. Totally dedicated and it handles the load quite well. I just got another one of the same type that is a single core 3.4ghz which will become my MySql server for VPhp. This one cost me $190.

As for the wife...........you got alot of us envious.... :lol:

Offline JOE

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Re: Received a Davis Wireless 6152 VP2 as a gift from my wife. Now what?
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2009, 10:51:29 PM »
No outside interference.

Using VWS (Internet version) on an XP machine.

I have had no problems with USB.
Brother-in-law also uses USB without any problems.

Joe
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Offline George Richardson

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Re: Received a Davis Wireless 6152 VP2 as a gift from my wife. Now what?
« Reply #7 on: January 26, 2009, 08:38:46 AM »
Bruce,
Welcome to the club(s)  :-P
George

Offline jjocsak

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Re: Received a Davis Wireless 6152 VP2 as a gift from my wife. Now what?
« Reply #8 on: January 26, 2009, 08:44:21 AM »
I checked around and Provantage has a low price for the data logger, but if Ambient will match or beat the price, I will buy from them since many in the community here seem to prefer Ambient's service and return policies.

They will honor it. I just placed and order with them for the serial logger and they honored the Provantage price.

Jeff

 

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